Colson leads No. 21 Notre Dame past Georgia Tech

SOUTH BEND, Ind. — Matt Farrell’s timing was perfect for No. 21 Notre Dame on Sunday night.

Farrell’s desperation fallaway corner jumper at the shot-clock buzzer with 3:40 left was one of a handful of what he called winning plays in the second half of a 64-60 victory over Georgia Tech.

“I just threw it up, and right when it left my hands, it looked good,” Farrell said. “I just tried to go out there and make winning plays.”

That shot kept the Yellow Jackets at bay after they cut Notre Dame’s lead to four points for the second time in the second half, which was when Farrell stepped up, scoring 14 of his 17 points.

Bonzie Colson did his part with 20 points and 11 rebounds, helping the Irish (22-7, 11-5 Atlantic Coast Conference) win their fifth straight.

Tadric Jackson led Georgia Tech (16-13, 7-9) with 20 points, and Josh Okogie had 14 points and 10 rebounds. The Yellow Jackets have lost three of four.

Notre Dame struggled to shoot over Georgia Tech’s zone defense, going 10-of-29 from 3-point range. But Colson was on, stepping out to hit all three of his 3-point tries over Georgia Tech big man Ben Lammers.

“I was trying to shoot with confidence,” Colson said. “We needed to stay patient on that end because of that one-three-one pushing out.”

Josh Heath’s jumper with four seconds left pulled Georgia Tech to 62-60, but Farrell made two free throws for the final margin, and the Irish played enough defense down the stretch to come out with the win.

“We missed some looks that we usually make, but it didn’t affect us going back on the other end and guarding,” Irish coach Mike Brey said.

Okogie scored nine points in the first six minutes of the game, but Colson got hot for the Irish not long after. Colson scored seven straight, including his second 3-pointer of the half and a pair of offensive putbacks, and the Irish took a 34-28 lead into halftime.

“(Colson) knew it was hard to score on Lammers in the paint, so he shot some jumpers on him and took him out there,” Brey said. “He set a great tone for us.”

V.J. Beachem, who was battling the flu, hit a 3-pointer early in the second half to give Notre Dame nine-point lead, but the Irish missed their next seven shots. After Tech cut it to four in that stretch, Colson was there with another 3-pointer to give the Irish some breathing room.

“You look at it, it’s Colson,” Georgia Tech coach Josh Pastner said. “I thought we did a good job on everybody else, but I probably didn’t spend enough time emphasizing his 3-point shooting.”

Georgia Tech won the first meeting on Jan. 28, 62-60 on Okogie’s buzzer-beating layup, an outcome that Pastner said looked unlikely when he first took over the Yellow Jackets.

“Our first workout in April, if you told me we’d lose by four points at Notre Dame, or at least split Notre Dame, I would tell you that you need to get checked,” Pastner said. “From where we came to where we are now, we’ve come such a far way.”